Start-up carrier Riyadh Air has been awarded daily takeoff and landing slots at Heathrow to launch flights to the capital of Saudi Arabia.
IAG was forced to give up the slots in order to gain approval for its takeover of UK rival bmi.
The Competition and Mergers Authority confirmed today that they had been given to Riyadh Air to launch the new daily flights to Riyadh this winter.
The airline is believed to be planning to start its first flights, to London, on 26 October, using a leased Boeing 787 aircraft.
It will go into head-to-head competition on the route with British Airways and Saudia.
Virgin Atlantic, which launched flights between Heathrow and Riyadh in March, entered into a codeshare agreement with Riyadh Air last year.
